National Park Service employees and contractors were seen removing green algae from the bottom of the Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool on Thursday, as the Trump administration compared the ongoing battle to its war with Iran.
Algae persists despite $14.2m renovation
After President Donald Trump ordered a $14.2 million refurbishment to turn the monument's water "American Flag blue" ahead of the country's 250th birthday, the administration encountered a stubborn foe: algae. The pool has fluctuated between shades of green, frustrating efforts to achieve the president's preferred color. By Thursday, parts of the coating applied by Atlantic Industrial Coatings had begun to peel off.
Workers in waders were seen attempting to fish out algae and eliminate deep green patches across the pool.
Interior Department claims 'crystal clear' water
Hours earlier, the US Department of the Interior, which oversees the National Park Service, insisted the water was "crystal clear" and blamed the "Fake News Media" for contrary reports. In a statement on X, the department likened its victory against algae to the administration's purported victory against Iran.
"The Reflecting Pool water is crystal clear, and our National Park Service team is now vacuuming up the dead algae resting on the bottom of some parts of the Reflecting Pool – just like the destroyed Iranian Navy resting on the bottom of the Persian Gulf," the department's press office said.
Trump's Iran campaign falls short
Both campaigns have failed to match Trump's stated intentions. At the outset of the US-Israel war on Iran, he vowed to eliminate Iran's nuclear program and destroy its ballistic missile program. A peace deal signed on Wednesday left the US president with only Iran's word not to build a bomb, with no written mention of the ballistic missile program.
Reflecting pool renovation raises eyebrows
The reflecting pool, a historically symbolic attraction and site of Martin Luther King's 1963 "I have a dream" speech, has been part of Trump's efforts to recondition Washington during his second term. A no-bid contract for waterproofing and repainting, awarded to Virginia-based Atlantic Industrial Coatings—which had previously worked on a pool at one of the president's golf clubs—drew scrutiny.
The administration initially claimed residual algae would be cleared after renovation, but warm weather caused it to proliferate. Officials later suggested installing a "nanobubbler technology" water treatment system, which the Interior Department claimed had "very effectively killed the algae."
